Shot Tower in Dubuque Iowa

The shot tower in Dubuque Iowa is a neat place to visit. It is in a strange place downtown as you must go through a few industrial parks to get there. My guess is it was there originally and was built around it as businesses began to grow. While it only looks as though it is eight stories high, it is actually taller than that. The first seven stories of the tower are made out of heavy duty stone right from Galena, Illinois, a city that borders Dubuque. The other three stories of this historical tower are made from a type of red brick to make it ten stories high and over one hundred and twenty feet tall. In order to see the very top you have to look very high up.

The tower was where shots made of molten lead were produced. It is a neat historical tower that deserves to be recognized by the public. Unfortunately, it took a while until it was viewed as a historical site. It was first opened to make shots in 1856. In the early 1900's a fire was started by arson and demolished the entire inside of this tower completely ruining all of the wood structures inside of it. The fire also demolished the lumber factories that surrounded this tower. In the later 1900's it was finally put on a historical list. For quite a while it didn't have a roof after the fire. A concrete roof was added for safety and protection of the tower. It was also added as extra security to preserve it. For a while, people were able to sit on the very top and it served as a watch tower for quite some time. This was a great addition for the city to keep the people safe. The person in the watch tower could see most of the city and could call if there was an emergency fire that had to be taken care of.

Dubuque Iowa has many neat places to see and has a lot of history as well. It is a beautiful town which lays right on the Mississippi river. This tall tower is just one of many places to visit while in this city. After visiting this area you can take a sharp right around the corner and take a walk along the amazing river walk that borders the Mississippi. Be careful for the trucks entering in and out of the industrial park as the tower shares a road and parking lot with them. If the temperatures are right, you will have a beautiful scenic walk along the river. There are boat cruises that leave right from the river walk and take you on an amazing tour of a lifetime.

The shot tower in Dubuque, Iowa is one of the last shot towers that are still standing in the USA. Many of the others in other states have long been gone for quite some time now. This makes the tower even more historically special.